Dan Larson, 1935–2016
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an elderly man with close-cropped hair wearing a light blue cardigan smiles as he holds up an electronic collage piece. It's of a stylized 1990s Ford dashboard, with a glowing green digital clock showing "3:10" and a flashing red "AIR BAG" warning.
I just found out that my friend and mentor, J.D. (Dan) Larson, passed away. He was found unresponsive by a neighbour. He was 91 years old.
Dan had a long career in high-energy physics. After a PhD at Caltech, he developed particle accelerator technology at Oak Ridge and Argonne. In the 1990s he stepped away from research to care for his elderly parents in Independence, MO. He had been in poor health for the last couple of years, and died in the home he'd been born in. Dan was my mother-in-law's companion.
This picture was taken in December 2014, and Dan is holding up a collage my partner made for him to thank him for taking her to the airport in the middle of the night (hence the "3:10" clock). Dan drove a very well-used 1990 Ford station wagon, which had many sensors broken or failing. The airbag light was constantly flashing, as did the indicator in the collage. A tremendously precise man, it didn't bother Dan that his gas gauge was broken: he knew exactly how many miles he got on a full tank.
I'll miss him.
Dan had a long career in high-energy physics. After a PhD at Caltech, he developed particle accelerator technology at Oak Ridge and Argonne. In the 1990s he stepped away from research to care for his elderly parents in Independence, MO. He had been in poor health for the last couple of years, and died in the home he'd been born in. Dan was my mother-in-law's companion.
This picture was taken in December 2014, and Dan is holding up a collage my partner made for him to thank him for taking her to the airport in the middle of the night (hence the "3:10" clock). Dan drove a very well-used 1990 Ford station wagon, which had many sensors broken or failing. The airbag light was constantly flashing, as did the indicator in the collage. A tremendously precise man, it didn't bother Dan that his gas gauge was broken: he knew exactly how many miles he got on a full tank.
I'll miss him.
(I was just thinking of you yesterday: I spent most of the day in a barn in rural Ontario that had an absurd collection of huge old computers in it, including some very impressive Data General big iron.)